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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 3 Hansard (25 March) . . Page.. 816 ..

MS CARNELL (continuing):

will be achieved by amending the definition of "Gazette" and removing references in the Public Sector Management Act 1994 to "Commonwealth of Australia Gazette" and replacing them with "Territory Gazette".

Information on ACT Public Service job vacancies and other information will continue to be available on the ACT Government home page on the Internet and also on all ACT Public Service Internet sites. The information published in the Commonwealth Gazette, which includes training programs and Commonwealth job vacancies, can still be accessed through agency subscriptions to the Commonwealth Gazette. The changes to the Public Sector Management Act 1994 will also broaden the definition of "criminal offence" to include offences committed in other States and Territories. This will bring the Territory into line with other jurisdictions.

Under the current provisions of the Public Sector Management Act 1994, public servants can be transferred or dismissed if they are convicted of a criminal offence. The current definition of "offence" covers Territory and Commonwealth laws and those of other countries where the offence is an offence under Territory or Commonwealth law. It does not cover Australian State laws. The definition is to be widened to include offences under laws of other Australian States and Territories on the same basis as the laws of other countries. This removes the current anomaly that an offence under Territory and Commonwealth law, or the law of a foreign country, may be considered sufficiently serious to justify the transfer or dismissal of a public servant from their employment when the same offence committed in an Australian State or Territory would not.

Section 248A of the Public Sector Management Act currently prohibits the reappointment or re-engagement of former chief executives and executives to the ACT Public Service within any benefit period. This amendment will permit the reappointment or re-engagement of those former employees to the ACT Public Service, during this period, with the prior written approval of the Commissioner for Public Administration. The change parallels existing provisions which apply to other public sector employees.

The amendment to section 251 of the Public Sector Management Act 1994 is designed to streamline the making of routine changes to the public sector management standards. Section 251 of the Public Sector Management Act 1994 permits the Commissioner for Public Administration to make management standards, with the approval of the Chief Minister, which give effect to the Public Sector Management Act 1994.

The practical effect of the amendment will be to allow the Commissioner for Public Administration to make routine changes to the management standards without having to seek the prior approval of the Chief Minister for every individual management standard. This will be achieved by the Chief Minister setting out the broad parameters in which the commissioner shall operate and approve any changes to the management standards. All management standards will continue to be gazetted and subject to section 6 of the Subordinate Laws Act 1989, which means they will continue to be tabled in the Assembly as disallowable instruments.

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